South Africa’s Renewed Talks to End Metals Strike Enter 2nd Day

July 17 (Bloomberg) -- The South African government will
continue talks with trade unions and employers today after it
renewed efforts to break a stalemate affecting 12,000 companies
and carmakers including Nissan Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp.

Labor Minister Mildred Oliphant met yesterday with the
National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, the country’s
biggest labor group, and the Steel and Engineering Industries
Federation of Southern Africa, which represents larger
companies, with negotiations continuing until 11 p.m., Mokgadi
Pela, spokesman for the Pretoria-based ministry, said by phone.

“We are trying to find a solution,” Pela said. “That is
the crucial thing.”

The strike by more than 220,000 Numsa members has disrupted
manufacturing output, threatening an economy still reeling from
a five-month strike by platinum mineworkers that ended in June,
costing the world’s three biggest producers, 23.9 billion rand
($2.2 billion) in revenue, while workers lost 10.6 billion rand
in wages. The continent’s second-biggest economy contracted in
the first quarter, the first decline since a 2009 recession.

Mediation by the labor department last week failed after
the union rejected a three-year wage offer from Seifsa, as the
employers’ lobby is known. The organization says the industry is
losing about 300 million rand daily during the strike, which
started on July 1.

Nissan temporarily closed its production plant in Rosslyn,
near the capital, Pretoria, from July 14 to July 21, the
company’s South African unit said in an e-mailed response to
questions. Toyota and Ford have also temporarily halted local
production.